This invention relates generally to a lantern. More particularly, the present invention relates to a collapsible, waterproof lantern.
Early conventional collapsible lanterns generally included a candle or wick, which provides a flame as a light source. A transparent globe surrounding the light source telescoped from a storage position to an operating position but the candle or wick did not. More recent conventional collapsible lanterns have replaced the candle/wick with a light bulb that is powered by batteries stored within the lantern. U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,949 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,094 disclose a collapsible lantern having a globe and cap telescopingly mounted to a base. A light bulb is mounted in the globe and is electrically connected to batteries that are mounted in the base. The relative movement between the globe/cap/light bulb assembly and the base/battery assembly requires an electrical path that is relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture.